Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi i setup one of my 20gal long tanks for Boo yesterday and was going to transfer him into it today but i have a bit of a problem. I used wood strips to raise the tank to vent excess heat from the UTH and now my nite light won't fit into the unit above the tank. I would have used the rubber feet that came with it but it doesn't raise the tank at all (the black stripping around the glass has a recessed part and thats the only place those things will stick to). I can't have the light fixture sitting on the top cause the screen pulls out.

So does anyone know how high the tank HAS to be to vent heat.

The *bumpers* (what i used to call them when i worked in the art framing business) wouldn't raise it that much even if the bottom black strip was flat, maybe an 1/8-1/4 of an inch. is that all i need? I'm trying to figure out how to install a door into these screen tops which would solve my problem, might have to go out and buy new tops altogether but i'd prefer not to.
Oh ya, the two 20 gal are in a unit, and i tried using the small *long light* fixtures for a nite light but it can only handle 25watts and it doesn't light up the tank at all!
Any suggestions? lol
Thanks
Red

Hey,
I dont think you would need that much room for air. I think as long as there is a little bit you should be fine : ) so 1/4 of an inch should work well : )
Bizzy

Thankyou

I went searching through my dads collection of wood (tons of it from household projects LOL) and i found thinner strips that raise the tanks about 1/4".
Two tanks done, two more to go lol. All this work and i only have one leopard gecko LOL, time to get more LOL

Red

1/4 to 1/2 inch is good for ventilation. For the light problem, can you use a clamp light? Before I built racks, I was using tanks with a UTH. I clamped a light onto a pole by the tank and that worked well.

I found some thinner strips of wood so the tanks are now raised about 1/4".

Yes i have clamp lamps (all of the ones that came with the tanks have clamps) Its just that it shines through the glass since it can't be on top of the tank and i was worried about the glass cracking with the heat on it since the arm of the clamp isn't that long and sits really close to the glass. Granted i don't plan to leave it on all the time And i do have one day light that has a large arm thats attached to the top of the unit and shines into both tanks. Its arm is long enough though that its still far from the glass. There are long fixtures that hold normal bulbs but i'm not paying $200.00 per tank (i have 6 tanks) for the fancy reptile ones lol.

Thanks for replying
Red

I make my own screen tops out of hardware cloth from Home Depot. It is metal with about 1/4 inch squares. We were using it to keep the beavers from taking down our trees near the water, then I was in sudden need of a screen top for an unexpected herp, and the rest is history. I put it together with some thin plastic-covered wire that my husband had lying around. Because it is flexible you can get quite creative with it. I install doors (trimmed with duct tape, eh, since the cut edges can be sharp) which makes it easy to tend to the lizards without needing space to slide over or take off the whole screen. You can recess light fixtures into it. It's great stuff.

hehehe, i just told my dad of my problem and guess where we are going tonight .......Home Depot. He looked at my screens and said i could put in a door, but why not just build my own. I'm sure i could find a lamp that will hold a normal bulb with it sitting sideways and allow the light to shine down......but i'm going to go with the clamp lamps for now. I have 5 tanks with this type of sliding screen top so i have my work cut out for me. My 40 gal will be the most interesting to do i think, its so large that 2 doors would be best

I really love building things and your description of the recessed screen and doors sounds so cool

Thanks for replying
Red

Do you have picture of your setup? It sounds cool
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0.1.0 Leo (Aeris)